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In Erica Smith's three years as online editor and director of digital strategy for The Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, change has been intended to make things easier in the newsroom and on the website, www.pilotonline.com. From creating a single app to keep track of a story to cutting the number of steps a reader must take to get a digital subscription, Smith wants the digital product to be accessible to readers and comfortable for the newsroom staff.

"Newspapers have been trying to play defense for a long time. From classifieds to inserts to our core users migrating to digital, our industry has been in protection mode," says Vince Johnson, publisher of The Item in Sumter, S.C. "Video allows us to play offense."

The Public Notice Resource Center has published an eight-page set of "Best Practices for Public Notices" that addresses the need for newspapers to use both their print and digital resources to inform the public and protect the public record.

Publishing a recipe card a day made nearly $1,000 a month for The Times Leader in Martins Ferry, Ohio, and readers called if it was left out. The concept was simple: Sell a 2 x 1 ad that runs along the bottom of a 2 x 5 space, and fill the rest of the space with a recipe. The size is small enough to clip and save like a recipe card, with the advertiser as the sponsor.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, BH Media Group's newspapers are finding success with their Cutest Couples contest. This contest and others are helping the papers and local businesses collect hundreds of email addresses for future promotions.

This column by Publisher and CEO Terry Kroeger was published May 5 in the Omaha World-Herald

Dear Readers,

I want to tell you a story. Don't worry. I'll keep it short.

This story is about you and us and how we're in it together, thick and thin. It's the story about our local newspaper and our community. We have been here for you in some form since 1865 – even before Nebraska was a state.

It's a story that at its most basic level is one of freedom. The stories we tell keep us all free by holding leaders accountable, by informing our community about what matters, and recording Omaha's history. Our stories also entertain, enlighten and inspire, forming the fabric of our community.

We can tell this story best because our storytellers – our employees – are part of the community, too. We are your friends and neighbors.

The beauty of the SMART-Flap is its unusual index tabs for a newsprint supplement. By processing two webs in different special widths and a staggered fold, the first four pages are narrower than the following pages. The two visible 3cm-wide tabs on the right-hand edge offer various categorization and additional ad options.

These T-shirts just might bring a new subscriber to The Tidewater News. In addition to the shirts that are sparking conversation in the community, you'll find links in this article to the paper's radio and TV commercials.

The Post and Courier launched a native ad program a year ago. In this 13-minute video, Publisher P.J. Browning and Brad Boggs, senior digital director, share useful tips on getting editorial buy-in, training sales staff, what categories are working, how native should be packaged and what results to expect.

The Charlotte Observer is publishing a daily newsletter aimed at Millennials that is pulling in an audience that advertisers crave. Millennials won't read their father's typical newspaper stories here. Instead, they're finding pieces full of voice and personality that speak to them.

A 7,500-circulation Monday-Friday daily in rural Dunn, N.C., has grabbed its own piece of the preprint pie with a two-part sales pitch. First, people in Dunn like to shop, too, and they're willing to leave town to do so. Second, why not drop off a small percentage of the preprint spoilage destined for larger papers at The Daily Record in Dunn instead?

Rohit Rathore wants to take automation in the newspaper industry to a new level by incorporating robotics and artificial intelligence into largely repetitive business functions.

This cutting-edge technology is rapidly emerging as a game changer in financial and insurance industries and offers significant benefits to the media industry as well, Rathore said. He said that if it is applied diligently, the result would be dramatic cost savings ranging from 40 to 80 percent for newspapers and the opportunity to reduce or eliminate outsourcing, especially outsourcing overseas.

In the summer of 2016, Austin360 (the entertainment brand of Statesman Media, Austin, Texas) launched a live video concert series – STUDIO SESSIONS. The goal was to combine the skills of the company's video staff (editorial and commercial working together), put its renovated in-house video studio to use, bring audiences together around music (Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World, after all) and sell sponsorships.

In return for offering something special to newspaper subscribers, the 150 businesses that are Press Pass sponsors with the Kentucky New Era receive advertising packages of varying levels. The packages range from a listing in promotional ads up to color ads in both the New Era and the newspaper serving Fort Campbell.

Healthy pizza. College depression. Beauty tips from Miss Florida. These are a few of the topics covered in Student Body Magazine, a new online publication by college-age adults for their peers. The new site, which launched last week, is a one-stop shop for information on how young adults can enhance their quality of life.

The Sumter Item has introduced a new look that features two nameplates (for vertical and horizontal layout options on the front page), as well as a five-column grid for ads and editorial. In a few weeks, a new look is coming to its website, as well.